The present invention relates generally to adapters for rolled material dispensers, and more particularly to adapters for rolled material dispensers which permit a dispenser of cored rolls of material to dispense coreless rolls of material.
Commercial and consumer absorbent paper products such as toilet tissue and paper towels are typically distributed and dispensed in roll form, and nearly always include a hollow cylindrical core that the product is wrapped about. While the core may be formed of many different materials, the core is frequently formed of some type of cardboard, which may be glued together and to the product so that the core stays intact and the product does not separate from the core. The product is then dispensed by mounting the roll on a spindle, such as can be found on the common bathroom toilet roll dispenser, that passes through or otherwise penetrates the inner space of the core. Some dispensers include pegs that penetrate the hollow space within the core for only a limited extent, as demonstrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 390,084 and 2,905,404 to Lane and Simmons, respectively.
Dispensers for multiple cored rolls of paper material, such as rolls of bathroom tissue, are also well known in the art. With typical conventional dispensers of this type, two rolls of tissue are vertically oriented within the dispenser so that the top roll falls into a dispensing position when the bottom roll is depleted. Generally, these dispensers are configured for conventional cored rolls incorporating a hollow core or spindle which extends through the roll, the ends of the spindle engaging slots or pathways which are defined in the interior surfaces of the dispensers.
A recent development in the industry of rolled paper products is solid or xe2x80x9ccorelessxe2x80x9d rolls of material, such as, for example, bathroom tissue paper. These solid or coreless rolls do not contain a hollow spindle or hollow core of any type. In many instances, these solid or coreless rolls are formed of material which is wound throughout the diameter of the roll. In such rolls, a divot, recess or detent may be formed in each side of the paper roll which define a rotational axis for the roll.
As used herein, the term xe2x80x9ccoreless rollxe2x80x9d further includes those rolls which are formed from material which is wound substantially, but not entirely, throughout the diameter of the roll. A coreless roll which is wound substantially throughout its diameter would lack a conventional cardboard or plastic core but would still incorporate a central aperture through the roll at the center of the roll along the length of the winding axis. Coreless rolls of this type are disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,669,576; 5,467,936; 5,387,284; 5,281,386; 5,271,575; and 5,271,137.
Coreless rolls disclosed by these patents are formed by winding the material about a mandrel and then removing the roll from the mandrel so that the roll includes a central aperture which extends entirely through the width of the roll along the winding axis. The central aperture may generally serve as a mounting divot, recess or detent although its depth will be the entire length of the central aperture along the winding axis. Accordingly, the depth of such a mounting hole would be equal to the entire width of the coreless roll.
As used herein, the xe2x80x9cwidthxe2x80x9d of the roll refers to the distance between a first flat end of the coreless roll that defines a mounting hole and a second flat end of the coreless roll that defines a mounting hole. Desirably, each flat end of the coreless roll defines a mounting hole at substantially the center of the winding axis of the roll and at least one, and desirably each, mounting hole has a depth and has sides generally perpendicular to the end of the roll, the sides being separated by a distance that is less than the depth of the hole.
There are advantages and disadvantages associated with the coreless rolls. Coreless rolls are ecologically superior to cored rolls because no adhesives or throwaway materials are used to make the product. In addition, more product can be provided in the space that would otherwise have been occupied by the core. Cored rolls are more expensive to manufacture than coreless rolls because of the expense of making the cores and joining the cores to the product. In addition, coreless rolls have the advantage of being subject to less pilferage in commercial locations because of their inherent incompatibility with conventional dispensers.
A disadvantage of coreless rolls is that conventional dispensers are unable to dispense multiple solid or coreless rolls because they do not hold the coreless rolls within the dispensers and maintain the rolls in proper alignment. Thus, when a user desires to switch from conventional rolls incorporating a hollow core or spindle to coreless rolls, a new dispenser must be purchased and installed. To avoid this additional cost and labor, an adapter is needed which enables a user to easily and inexpensively adapt a conventional roll dispenser to dispense coreless rolls of material.
The present invention is directed to an adapter for a dual roll, vertically stacked dispenser. The adapter includes, in selected embodiments, a frame which fits within a dispenser of conventional cored rolls of material. In selected embodiments, the frame may include a base and a pair of spaced apart side rails, each side rail extending upwardly from the base. In such an embodiment, a rear support may also be provided which extends upwardly from the base and may be positioned with respect to the side rails so as to form a channel. In some embodiments, an upper rail may be provided which extends between and is attached to an upper portion of each of the spaced apart side rails and the rear support.
At least one carriage unit is provided in the present invention, each carriage unit having a pair of spaced apart arms. In certain embodiments, a crossbar may be provided which may extend between the spaced apart arms. Each arm may include an outboard surface and an inboard surface.
An outboard pin may be disposed on the outboard surface of each arm, the outboard pin being configured to slidably engage the dispenser. In certain embodiments, the outboard pin may engage a channel within the dispenser. An inboard pin may be provided, the inboard pin being rotatably attached to the inboard surface of each arm. The inboard pin is also adapted to engage a coreless roll of material.
A locking mechanism may further be provided which releasably locks the carriage unit to the frame. In particular embodiments of the present invention, the locking mechanism may include a flexible locking finger disposed upon each arm. In such an embodiment, the carriage unit may be inserted into the frame until the crossbar is positioned proximate to the rear support and the locking finger on each arm engages one of the side rails of the frame, releasably locking the carriage unit to the frame. Thus, the carriage unit is slidably retained within the channel of the frame.
The carriage unit may further include two brackets, each bracket slidably attached to one of the arms of the carriage unit so that the motion of each bracket along the arm of the carriage unit is substantially perpendicular to the motion of the carriage unit along the frame.
The present invention further encompasses a carriage unit adapter for solid or coreless rolls of paper material that are dispensed in a roll dispenser having slots defined on inner surfaces of side wall members thereof for receipt of said adapter and a back wall positioned a distance from the slots that is slightly greater than the radius of a solid or coreless roll, the solid or coreless rolls having recesses defined in sides thereof defining a rotating axis for said solid or coreless rolls.
According to the invention, the carriage unit adapter includes a pair of spaced apart arms joined by a connecting member having a front surface and a back surface, each arm having an outboard surface and an inboard surface including: (i) an outboard pin disposed on the outboard surface, the outboard pin configured to slidably engage a slot on an inner surface of a side wall member of the dispenser; and (ii) an inboard pin attached to the inboard surface, the inboard pin configured to engage a coreless roll of material. Each arm has a length measured from the back surface of the connecting member to the center of the outboard pin that is greater than the distance between the slots and the back wall of the dispenser so that the back surface of the connecting member contacts the back wall of the dispenser to force the connecting member out of the same planar dimension as the outboard pins as they engage the slots. This permits the carriage unit to hold said roll within the roll dispenser while allowing said carriage unit to move along the slots defined in said roll dispenser to a dispensing position without interfering with the positioning of subsequent rolls.
In an aspect of the invention, each spaced apart arm can be offset to orient to connecting member out of the same planar dimension as the outboard pins as they engage the slots. For example, each spaced apart arm may be offset at an angle ranging from about 10 degrees to about 75 degrees. As another example, each spaced apart arm may be offset at an angle ranging from about 30 degrees to about 50 degrees. As yet another example, each spaced apart arm may be offset at an angle of about 40 degrees.
The carriage unit adapter may also include finger placement indicia and thumb placement indicia on separate spaced apart arms.
Another aspect of the present invention encompasses a stackable carriage unit adapter for solid or coreless rolls of paper material that are dispensed in a roll dispenser having slots defined on inner surfaces of side wall members thereof for receipt of said adapter and a back wall positioned a distance from the slots that is slightly greater than the radius of a solid or coreless roll, the solid or coreless rolls having recesses defined in sides thereof defining a rotating axis for said solid or coreless rolls, the carriage unit adapter. In this aspect of the invention, the stackable carriage unit adapted includes a pair of spaced apart arms joined by a connecting member having a front surface and a back surface, each arm having an outboard surface and an inboard surface including: (i) an outboard pin disposed on the outboard surface, the outboard pin configured to slidably engage a slot on an inner surface of a side wall member of the dispenser; and (ii) an inboard pin attached to the inboard surface, the inboard pin configured to engage a coreless roll of material. Each arm has a length measured from the back surface of the connecting member to the center of the outboard pin that is greater than the distance between the slots and the back wall of the dispenser so that the back surface of the connecting member contacts the back wall of the dispenser to force the connecting member out of the same planar dimension as the outboard pins as they engage the slots. This configuration permits the stackable carriage unit hold the roll within the roll dispenser while allowing the carriage unit to move along the slots defined in the roll dispenser to a dispensing position.
Each arm of the stackable carriage unit also includes an upper surface and a lower surface and a vertical separation element located on at least a portion of the upper surface of each of the spaced apart arms.
According to the invention, the vertical separation elements each may have a vertical height that is approximately the same as the radius of a full roll of paper material to be dispensed. This height may be adjusted for several factors including, but not limited to, the dimensions of the dispenser.
Generally speaking, the vertical separation element of a first stackable carriage unit is adapted to contact or engage at least a portion of the lower surfaces of the spaced apart arms of a second stackable carriage unit when the second carriage unit is positioned directly on top of the first carriage unit.
Desirably, the vertical separation element of the first stackable carriage unit is adapted to contact or engage at least a portion of the lower surfaces of the spaced apart arms of the second stackable carriage unit when the second carriage unit is positioned directly on top of the first carriage unit and when the roll of paper product held in the first carriage unit is substantially depleted.